'Chemical Ali' given a death sentence

BY OMAR SINANTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday

Jun 25, 2007 at 7:39 AM

HALABJA, Iraq - Hundreds of Kurds danced in the streets Sunday, celebrating the news that Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin, "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, and two other regime officials had been sentenced to hang for massacring up to 180,000 Kurds in a brutal crackdown two decades ago.
Two other defendants were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the 1987-1988 crackdown, known as "Operation Anfal." A sixth defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. Death sentences are automatically appealed.
The verdicts were handed down at the end of a trial that began Aug. 21. Witnesses testified that Iraqi government forces indiscriminately attacked women and children, burned crops, killed livestock and rounded up civilians into detention camps in a campaign to exterminate the restive Kurdish minority.
"Now I bring my family good news that Chemical Ali is to be hanged for killing them, thus their spirits will rest in peace," said Kamal Hawramani, 37. "Kurds are a strong people and not easy to break."
For many Kurds, the joy over the verdicts was tempered by the fact that the main defendant - Saddam - had gone to the gallows before the Anfal trial was completed. The ousted president was hanged Dec. 30 for his role in the deaths of more than 140 Shiite Muslims in Dujail.
The defendants insisted they were defending the nation against Kurdish guerrillas who had sided with Iran during the bloody eight-year war.
"One of the sad things about this case, which deals with horrific, brutal crimes, is that we never heard the full story of Anfal because Saddam had already been executed," said Miranda Sissons, of the International Center for Transitional Justice.
Also sentenced to death were Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, the former defense minister who led the Iraqi delegation at the cease-fire talks that ended the 1991 Gulf War, and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces.
Mohammed interrupted the judge as the verdict was read, insisting the defendants were defending Iraq from Kurdish rebels who collaborated with Iran.
"God bless our martyrs. Long live the brave Iraqi army. Long live Iraq. Long live the Baath party and long live Arab nations," he said.
Al-Tai insisted he was innocent, telling the judge "I will leave you to God" as he was led away.
Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former deputy director of operations for the armed forces, and Sabir al-Douri, former director of military intelligence, were sentenced to life in prison. Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, former governor of Mosul, was acquitted.
"I would never miss this," said Peshtiwan Kamal, 24, who was too young to remember the attacks. "I always heard from my family what those criminals did to my people. So I just wanted to see how they would take the verdict and punishment."
A small rally was also held at a memorial garden in the Halabja cemetery.
As in the Dujail case, some human rights organizations questioned whether the Anfal proceedings complied with international standards for fairness.
Sissons said the broad array of charges facing all the accused made it difficult to prepare a proper defense.
"It matters to the rule of law and the future of Iraq that individuals are sentenced after fair and critical trials that meet international standards," she said.
Besides Saddam, three other figures from the former regime have been executed - all in the Dujail case. They include Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, who headed the Revolutionary Court that sentenced the Dujail victims to death. They were hanged in January.
Former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was sentenced to life in prison for his role in Dujail but was hanged in March after an appeals court decided the life sentence was too lenient. Three other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison in the Dujail case, while one was acquitted.
Munir Hadad, a judge on the Iraqi high tribunal, said up to 15 officials were expected to go on trial in a few weeks in the suppression of a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq in 1991.
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AP correspondent Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report from Baghdad.

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